TThe Chapman family’s interview with Robin Roberts aired Wednesday morning, August 6th on ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’. The entire interview is located here: http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=5524419
As a preface to Thursday night’s Chapman family interview on Larry King Live (CNN), Steven wrote an article advocating for adoption and orphans. You can read the article at: http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/07/chapman.orphans/index.html
It is with very heavy hearts to share that one of our long standing China travel staff, Mr. Zheng, fondly known as James to our families, has passed away. James was tragically killed on the side of the highway when struck by a small car while awaiting the arrival of a second bus.
James had served America World families since 2000 as our favorite bus driver. He will be greatly missed. Please join us in prayer for his wife and adult daughter. America World has established a memorial fund in honor of James. Families who would like to contribute can do so via credit card at https://www.awaa.org/forms/payment.aspx (please click donation, and note James Memorial Fund). All donations are requested by August 24th (please note that these gifts are not tax deductable).
America World is eager to announce that over the past six weeks, 45 families have submitted their Electronic Acceptances for children from the shared CCAA website! Congratulations to all! Additionally, we would like to congratulate the families who have moved forward to adopt America World assigned referrals. A special congratulations goes out to the families moving forward to adopt Chase and Noah! The following children have families pending: Dylan, Liam, Cole, Piper, and Jack! Please join us in praising our God for bringing families forward for these children.
In other exciting news, Madeline and Henry, who are also America World referrals, are also currently under review with families. Our prayers are with these families as they review the referrals and seek God’s discernment for their family in that process. Additionally, Dylan turned 9 in July. We wish him a happy birthday and are thankful he has a family pending for his adoption!
Please join America World staff in praying that God may call forward forever families for the children listed in bold below:
• Seth is an independent and friendly 13 year old boy. He has a congenital limb deformity where his left arm is missing from the forearm down. He attended the Hope Journey summer camp in July 2007 where America World staff met and interacted with him.
• Ben is a 13 year old boy who has a visual impairment. He loves school and basketball.
• Nathaniel is an introverted yet confident 12 ½ year old boy. He is artistic and good at calligraphy. He attended the Hope Journey summer camp in July 2007 where America World staff met and interacted with him.
• Evan is a artistic and creative 11 ½ year old boy who has a deformity of both feet. He is described as fun-loving and clever.
• Brady is an active and energetic 9 ½ year old boy. He loves to watch cartoons and build things. Brady is hearing impaired.
• Jonathan is a friendly and outgoing 9 year old boy who has club feet and hands that are deformed. This adorable boy loves to sing for his foster mother!
• Andre is an active 9 year old boy. He is diagnosed as having “post-operative bilateral renal pelvis and ureter stenosis plasty” and ametropia of both eyes. Andre “loves life” and nature!
• Andrew is an active 5 ½ year old boy. He has been diagnosed with congenital exophthalmoses (protrusion of the eyeballs) and is reportedly normal in intellectual and physical development.
• Joey is an independent and shy 4 year old boy. He has received surgeries to repair both his cleft lip and palate, and also has scoliosis. Joey loves music!
• New! Connor is an athletic and healthy 12 year old boy. He is an actively involved student; he gets along with his other classmates and is respectful of his teachers.
• New! Abigail is an active and healthy 12 ½ year old girl. She is described as active and talkative.
• New! Hannah is a happy 10 year old girl who has been diagnosed with post-operative hydronephrosis and also has a “lazy” left eye. She is described as obedient, shy, sensible, and polite.
• New! Amelia is a charming 8 year old girl who has been diagnosed with scoliosis and repaired spina bifida. While her diagnosis is severe, she is a strong and active girl.
Please continue to pray for all of the children on our Waiting Children Program list. There are still many referrals available for review! To learn more about these children and to view their photos and biographies please go to the link: http://www.awaa.org/waitingchildren/china/ and contact your Family Coordinator for the password.
America World China Program families who are not currently part of the Waiting Children Program are invited to contact their Family Coordinator with questions on the program. Additionally, these families can apply to be considered for waiting children referrals and receive email updates about the program by completing the online application at: http://www.awaa.org/waitingchildren/china/application.aspx.
Thank you for your prayers for Henry during the month of July. Henry is currently under review with a family! Please join us in praising God for bringing a family forward to review his referral information. The following children are being adopted or have families pending: Dylan, Liam, Cole, Piper, and Jack! Madeline is currently under review with a family as well!
The focus of our prayer for the month of July is Andre. Andre is an active 9 year old boy who underwent successful surgery of the kidney and pelvis areas and has recovered from a renal hemorrhage. Andre is noted to have a stable physical state and he can jump, skip and play with his friends. In a recent update it is stated that, “He recovered very good, he does not need any treatment now. He is active to the people he knows, but he is quiet when he see strangers.” The orphanage also confirmed that Andre would like to be adopted and be part of a family.
Andre also has ametropia of both eyes. Despite this condition he studies hard and does well in school. It has also been recently noted that he does not need eye glasses. Andre is said to love life and nature. He likes to draw and can create drawings with delicate designs. Andre’s friends enjoy playing with him and Andre is helpful towards adults.
We were very encouraged by these recent updates that confirmed Andre is doing well. This new information is reflected in his biography which families can view by going to http://www.awaa.org/waitingchildren/china/ and requesting the password from their Family Coordinator. Families can also view photos of Andre, and can request the full referral information from their Family Coordinator.
Please join us in praying for Andre over the month of August. We trust that our united prayers for him and for families considering reviewing his information will be pleasing and powerful! Thank you for your commitment to being intercessors on behalf of Andre and all waiting children!
We have had four more families dossiers approved by OPA this week. Congratulations to those families whose dossiers have been approved! We rejoice with your families and pray that God continues to bless your adoption journeys.
The Chapman family will be making media appearances beginning next week. This will be the first since the tragic loss of Maria on May 21st. Please continue to keep the Chapmans in your prayers, and that through these interviews, God will be glorified and His gospel will be clearly and boldly proclaimed.
August 5th – Good Morning America (ABC) 7:00 – 9:00 AM (All time zones)
August 7th – Larry King LIVE! (CNN) 9:00 PM (Eastern time)
August 13th – People Magazine
Steven Curtis Chapman is back on the road this summer performing your favorite songs! Remaining summer dates are listed below.
Beginning in October, Steven and Michael W. Smith will be onstage together for the first time for The UNITED Tour. For more information about Steven’s summer concerts and The UNITED Tour, visit Steven’s website.
8/1 Asheville, NC
8/2 Atlanta, GA
8/9 Hot Springs, AR
8/10 Denver, CO
8/16 Houston, TX
9/13 Fort Worth, TX
9/19 Brentwood, CA
9/20 Puyallup, WA
America World received 10 referrals of children between the ages of 0-5 years for the month of July from Ethiopia. Below are the DTE of the families who received referrals this month:
Referrals on July 21, 2008
DTE: 11/21/07- Infant Boy
12/7/07- Infant Boy
12/7/08- Infant Boy
12/21/07- Infant Boy
1/25/08- Infant Boy
1/25/08- Infant Boy
Referrals on July 29, 2008
DTE: 1/25/08- Infant Boy
10/19/07- Infant Girl
Based on the new referrals, the wait time for an infant boy is 5-7 months while the wait time for an infant or toddler girl is 7-9 months. The wait time for siblings under 7 is 5-9 months.
Dear Families,
Thank you for your prayers for Noah during the month of May. Noah has a family pursuing his adoption! Please join us in praising God for answered prayers! Due to shared referrals, we were unable to post a prayer focus for the month of June. However, the lack of the posting didn’t interfere with God’s bold movement on behalf of special needs children in AWAA’s Waiting Children Program! The following children are being adopted or have families pending: Chase, Dylan, Liam, Cole and Jack! Madeline and Piper are currently under review with families as well!
The focus of our prayer for the month of July is Henry. Henry is a shy and sweet 4 ½ year-old boy who has severe hearing loss in both ears. Henry is receiving training in sign language and he is able to communicate simple statements. He is independent and likes to dress himself. Even with his hearing loss he communicates well with his eyes and by observing attentively. Henry is a shy boy and tends to be introverted around strangers, but becomes very talkative once he feels comfortable.
We ask that you join us in praying for Henry over the month of July. We trust that our united prayers for him and for families considering reviewing his information will be pleasing and powerful! Thank you for your commitment to being intercessors on behalf of Henry and all waiting children!
Congratulations to all of the Waiting Children Program (WCP) families who have accepted referrals of special needs children this week! As of this afternoon, 19 Electronic Acceptances (EA) have been sent to the CCAA. The CCAA posted many referrals over the course of two days and all families who were initially matched have been called. In addition, WCP families were emailed on July 10th and July 15th with information on specific shared referrals. Please contact your Family Coordinator if you are interested in reviewing any of these children. We are so happy that these families are one step closer to bringing their little ones home!
We would also like to share that our Waiting Children Program staff did a record number of shared referral processing in the month of June. A total number of 27 EA’s were sent to the CCAA on behalf of America World families that month!
There are still America World assigned referrals available for adoption. Please click this link: http://www.awaa.org/waitingchildren/china/ and ask your Family Coordinator for the password.
We have families traveling to China today – which is always very exciting! As usual, let’s keep them in our prayers.
I am planning on traveling to El Salvador in the next couple of weeks – I don’t have dates set yet, but hopefully will soon. The purpose of this trip will be to follow-up on the meetings I had earlier this summer. I also have the intention of meeting with the organizations that we’ve been partnering with. I would appreciate your prayers for me, our agency and the different adoption authorities in El Salvador.
Duni, our Ethiopia Program Director is in Ethiopia right now. She is working with a few specific families as well as continuing to streamline and refine the adoption process. We heard from her today - it’s great to hear about our Transitional Home and our staff and all the work they’re doing in Addis.
“Learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” Isaiah 1:17
